Manuale d'amore

Giovanni Veronesi's 2005 Italian romantic comedy is Manuale d'amore (Manual of Love in English). It covers four stages of love in four chapters: falling in love, crisis, betrayal and abandonment. Each chapter follows a different couple; the encounter in one opens the door to the next, and all the characters end up connected. Shot in Rome, the film was a big box-office hit in Italy.

In the first chapter Giulia and Tommaso meet and fall in love, with Silvio Muccino as Tommaso. In the second, the marriage of Barbara (Margherita Buy) and Marco (Sergio Rubini) nears divorce. In the third, a female traffic officer betrayed by her husband seeks revenge. The last centres on Goffredo, a wealthy doctor left by his wife, played by Carlo Verdone. The cast also includes Jasmine Trinca, Luciana Littizzetto, Dario Bandiera and Sabrina Impacciatore.

Ugo Chiti and Veronesi wrote the screenplay from an original idea by Vincenzo Cerami. Produced by Filmauro, the film pays tribute to Ettore Scola and Dino Risi, masters of commedia all'italiana. It took 15 million euros in Italy, the year's second highest, and received twelve David di Donatello nominations. Veronesi then made two sequels, Manuale d'amore 2 – Capitoli successivi (2007) and Manuale d'amore 3 (2011).